Watchdog warning over care records

Former GPC IT subcommittee chairman Dr Paul Cundy has called for GPs to enter a '93C3 Read code' into the notes of patients who have not explicitly told them that they want to have an SCR.

This code will stop any uploads to the SCR and enable the system to run on an 'explicit opt-in basis', he said.

Dr Cundy said GPs should contact IT system suppliers or their user group for instructions on how to enter a Read code into patient records.

'Previously, GPs might also have had to write to all their patients telling them that they were doing this but the emerging news that the SCR is actually positively unsafe means they definitely no longer need to do this,' he said.

But the Information Commissioner's Office has said if a GP opts patients out of the SCR without informing them, this may be 'unfair processing'.

An ICO case officer said patients must be told in advance of the GP's intentions.